Hsu, H-W;
Schmidt, J;
Kempf, S;
Postberg, F;
Moragas-Klostermeyer, G;
Seiß, M;
Hoffmann, H;
... Srama, R; + view all
(2018)
In situ collection of dust grains falling from Saturn's rings into its atmosphere.
Science
, 362
(6410)
, Article eaat3185. 10.1126/science.aat3185.
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Abstract
Saturn's main rings are composed of >95% water ice, and the nature of the remaining few percent has remained unclear. The Cassini spacecraft's traversals between Saturn and its innermost D ring allowed its cosmic dust analyzer (CDA) to collect material released from the main rings and to characterize the ring material infall into Saturn. We report the direct in situ detection of material from Saturn's dense rings by the CDA impact mass spectrometer. Most detected grains are a few tens of nanometers in size and dynamically associated with the previously inferred "ring rain." Silicate and water-ice grains were identified, in proportions that vary with latitude. Silicate grains constitute up to 30% of infalling grains, a higher percentage than the bulk silicate content of the rings.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | In situ collection of dust grains falling from Saturn's rings into its atmosphere |
| Location: | United States |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1126/science.aat3185 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aat3185 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the author accepted manuscript. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10061291 |
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